


Introducing the next Phantom Thief: Angel!

by madammina



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Also "I'm not writing anything until I'm done with Quincey" yeah right, As this is after Persona 4 and 5, Based on how Persona 5 Scramble seems to be going to Inaba, Gen, I haven't played Royal so if I get something wrong from there DO NOT TELL ME, I hope this is true, Quincey after this, Right also spoilers, Seriously though this should be fun and hopefully correct, Then Winepress and How Does Your Garden Grow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21830308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madammina/pseuds/madammina
Summary: Shadows have returned to Inaba, but they are outside of the TV. The Investigation Team- now 7 years older and able to use their Personas in the "Real World" - have gathered to stop them.And one more has tagged along...
Relationships: Investigation Team - Relationship, Phantom Thieves - Relationship
Kudos: 27





	Introducing the next Phantom Thief: Angel!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Farva5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farva5/gifts).



Nanako smiled as she flumped back down on the couch. Around her, she could hear her adult friends chatting. Chie and Yukiko were laughing over something, Kanji and Naoto were going over his mother's books to make sure no one was skimming from them, and Yosuke, Rise, and Yu were talking about some Big City thing.   
  
Inaba had really returned to being a great place.   
  
"Hey, Naoto-Kun," Chie said after a moment. "Have you heard anything on those Phantom Thieves?"  
  
"No," Naoto said as she did some sort of calculation. "They haven't been seen in months." 

Nanako stayed quiet, her hand fingering a keychain with a mask on it in her pocket.   
  
"It's weird, isn't it?" Yosuke said as he got up to stretch. "They go around, steal the intangible, and then disappear?"  
  
"Maybe they managed to make the perfect score," Her father said as he came in from the kitchen, holding a fresh attempt at a cake. "Or they were just faking it for the attention."   
  
There was a quick _Crash_ and Nanako sat up on the couch. It looked almost as is Yukiko had stamped on Kanji's foot, mistimed it, and they both tripped. But... that can't be right. Yu went quiet for a second.   
  
"Dojima-san," Yu said quickly. "Want us to help you in the kitchen?"   
  
"I'll do it!" Nanako said as she got up. "You all cooked, let me help you clean up!"  
  
"It's fine!" Yukiko said quickly. "It'll be fun helping out here!"   
  
"Isn't it your job at the inn?" Kanji asked. Chie growled.  
  
"It's okay, Nanako," Her dad said. "Why don't you go to your room for a bit." As everyone else huddled into their tiny kitchen.  
  
Nanako climbed the stairs to her room.   
  
It had been changed over the years, of course, since her Big Brother had come. About eight years or so now? The dolls and kid's books had been swapped out for books on weather and unofficial (and hidden) Phantom Thieves merchandise.   
  
Her grown-up friends were hiding something from her. Something big. Something involving the murders from all those years ago. Something involving her being kidnapped and getting sick.   
  
_WHAT WEREN'T THEY TELLING HER!_  
  
As Nanako opened her window, hoping to hear some of the conversations from downstairs, she saw something running through the street. Something... that was not some sort of animal. Something huge.   
  
Nanako began to climb out the window. It was so far from the ground, but she... why was she doing this? To discover? to figure out what it was?   
  
She jumped the last few feet to the ground, grass, and plants muffling her footsteps. 

  
She began to sneak around the house, to hide under the windows and crawl below the porch. After the last turn, she got up, brushed off her clothes and began to run down the street, still avoiding the light from the lamps.   
  
A little farther down the road, she began to hear something.  
  
"NANAKO!" That sounded like Yu. Footsteps, it sounded like everyone was beginning to come up from behind her.

  
"Wait, guys!" That was Rise.   
  
Nanako paused, torn between returning and going on, to figure out what that was, when _IT_ appeared before her. Something large and ball-shaped and with a giant tongue. Something that slid out from the shadows between street lamps, cars, and houses. Something sightless and -  
  
Nanako couldn't help it, she screamed.   
  
The footsteps grew louder as everyone came from behind her. She began to run backward, hoping rather than knowing that Yu was there. The thing came forward, and she tripped, falling backward into Yu's arms.   
  
"Shadow?" Chie asked, sinking into a fighting stance.   
  
"Yeah, yeah." Kanji stretched. "Let's just go ahead and punch it."   
  
"Nanako-chan, you go home," Yosuke said. "Yukiko, Yu, you can help her back, right?"   
  
"Of course," Yu said, holding out his hand towards Nanako, but as he did some, a card appeared in it. "Huh?"   
  
"It makes sense," Naoto said, holding out her hand and receiving a card of her own. "Shadows return, and so do our Personas." She closed her hand, shattering the card, and summoning something. "Let's go Yamato" SOmething appeared behind her. As Nanako watched, the others repeated the gesture and summoned things of their own too.   
  
"Nanako, go home!" Chie shouted. "We can protect you!"  
  
  
_**"NO!"**_ Nanako shouted, her fists clenched. "I'm not a kid anymore, I've grown up. You need to stop hiding things from me, stop acting like I'm six, and LET ME HELP YOU!"   
  
Nanako felt, rather than saw, the THING of blue flames appear on her face. 

_OFF OFF OFF_ her brain screeched and she grabbed it, tugged, and felt it rip deeply into her skin. It wasn't painful, it was just WRONG. It needed to GO. Now. And she could hear yelling from her friends, agreeing that something was wrong. But the words were last in the shuffle. 

_Oh there you are._ A voice said. _You seek the truth, you seek respect. Make a contract with me, and I can give it to you._

"I hear you-" Nanako said, taking a deep breath before one last tug. "Heiji"   
  
The Mask - it was clearly a mask now that it was off her face, dripping blood, came off easily enough now. As it did so, some sort of Samurai carrying a baton and a coin on a loop of ribbon appeared behind her. In her hand manifested a rod with an orb on top and wings on either side. Nanako ran up to the Shadows and smacked it with the rod. Light poured from the rod when it hit. The THING winced, The rod shot out another beam of light, and Heiji followed up with the Jutte before summoning more light which purged the area.   
  
"Na-" Rise started to say but turned. "Someone's coming."   
  
Nanako could hear it now, a car of some sort, barreling up the street. Her friends tensed, creatures of their own ready to attack, but what appeared was an ordinary black van. As they all watched, the van jumped somehow in the air and turned into a cat that landed on the street. While it did that, a group of people tumbled out from the van, all wearing different masks.   
  
  
"I see we have a new recruit!" a girl in a green cyber like suit said, her own mask like a set of VR goggles.   
  
"Yes," said the man with the fox mask. "The mask is a bit more like glasses, but she is unmistakably a Phantom Thief."   
  
"YOU are the Phantom Thieves?" Naoto said walking forward, pulling out a pair of glasses. Nanako turned around and realized that everyone behind her wore a pair. "You are also Persona users?"   
  
"She's sharp," Said someone with a skull mask. A tall boy, one with a white domino-like mask, came forward. As his coat flared out, a creature that looked like a man in a top hat and large black wings appeared behind him.   
  
"Joker." The person said, holding out his hand. "We have to keep our names secret, you understand."   
  
"They don't have masks though." The girl with a red cat-like mask said. "Morgana, are they users?"   
  
Nanako couldn't QUITE make out the next bit, it was a cross between words and meowing, but it seemed to be explaining something.   
  
"We'll have to give her a name then." Someone with a spiked outfit and mask said. "As our newest member."  
  
"Nope!" That was Kanji, striding up in front of Nanako... was he carrying a DESK over his shoulder? "Nanako chan ain't a thief or anything. She's our little sister. "  
  
"Figuratively speaking," Yukiko said. "BUt Kanji's right, she's not a thief. "  
  
"She's been rebellious though." Said a girl that looked like a musketeer. "I love her outfit!"  
  
"I-" Nanako stopped and looked down. "When did my clothes change?"  
  
"It happens." Skull faced guy said. Nanako ran over to the nearest reflective surface. A long pink dress, with a fluffy skirt and ribbons, gloves and knee-high boots, earrings, and the mask... the one that looked like fancy glasses perched on her face.   
  
"Rebellion?" Nanako turned. "I... I guess I have." She turned to her friends, but they were all in a huddle, discussing something. "Hey, I get to decide what I want to do."  
  
"I-" Yosuke started to say, but Yu held up his hand.   
  
"You're right," Yu said. "But either way we ALL have a lot to talk about." He glared at Joker, who gave a nod back. Naoto was watching this very carefully too.   
  
"You need a code name," Joker said. "And then we will talk."   
  
Nanako just needed one moment to think about it. One word had really been following her through her life. The kidnapping incident, the Kanamin kitchen concert...  
  
"You can call me Angel." 

**Author's Note:**

> Nanako's design and persona are based kind of on a fusion of Persona 4 aesthetics and Persona 5 aesthetics. She has a fictional character as her Persona, but they are from Japan instead of the west. (I know, Yusuke, but still.) And her design is based on multiple different Magical Girls, (her name is based on Magical Angel Creamy Mami while her design is based more on a fusion of Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon.)


End file.
